Punk band The Casualties originated in the distant 1990s. True, the composition of the team members changed so often that there was no one left of the enthusiasts who organized it. Nevertheless, punk is alive and continues to delight fans of this genre with new singles, videos and albums.
How it all started with The Casualties
New York guys, wandering around the streets of the city, dragging a boombox and listening to punk. The benchmark for them were The Exploited, Charged GBH and Discharge. The guys regretted that after 1985 punk music practically left the musical arena. Therefore, we decided to create our own team of a similar orientation.
Once the guys were in a sad mood, as Jorge Herrera broke up with a girl. Others also had troubles on the love front. They began to play "Victim" by the Irish band The Defects. And someone suggested to call the group just like that: The Casualties. Although before that their team had a more intricate name, which in translation meant: "Four big guys with funny shoes."
One of my colleagues joked that it would be better to call them 40 Ounce Casualties, as they constantly drink 40 ounces of beer, which means they are victims of intoxicating drink. The guys took this name into service, writing the single of the same name.
Constant metamorphoses in the composition
In 1990, The Casualties consisted of five musicians:
- Jorge Herrera (vocalist);
- Hank (guitarist);
- Colin Wolf (vocalist)
- Mark Yoshitomi (bassist);
- Jurish Hooker (drums)
But the original composition is constantly undergoing changes. The guys came and went. It seemed that they were only going to get drunk.
So, a year later, Hank was replaced by Fred Backus during the creation of the next work “Political Sin”. Then Backus himself had to return to his studies, so Scott temporarily took over the guitar. Then Fred came back again. Because of such a leapfrog, the composition of the participants was difficult to track.
After the release of a 1992-ounce mini-album in the spring of 40, the punk band gained a lot of fans in their native New York. But even the first successes did not stop Mark and Fred. They were replaced by Mike Roberts and Jake Kolatis. Two years later, only one vocalist remained from the old-timers. Yurish and Colin have parted ways with The Casualties. Sean took the place of the drummer.
First album and festivals
Despite such staff turnover, in 1994 the musicians recorded a four-song mini-album. But they couldn't publish it. These singles can be heard in the musical work "Early Years", released in 99.
In 1995, an EP was released for four more tracks. As soon as the recording of the album was completed, Sean said goodbye to The Casualties. The drummer position has now been taken over by Mark Eggers. It was this composition that turned out to be, surprisingly, tenacious, holding out until 1997.
A year later, the guys were invited to the Holidays in the Sun festival in the capital of Great Britain. It was the first appearance on stage by an American band as part of a punk festival.
Finally, in 1997, the debut album "For the Punx" saw the light and tours took place in American cities. At this time, "Victims" said goodbye to bassist Mike. Johnny Rosado was hired to take his place.
After the release of the second album, a world tour began. But the losses continued. This time the group was left without John. He left The Casualties in the midst of a European tour. So I had to urgently take on a temporary replacement for Dave Punk Core.
Long-awaited stabilization in The Casualties
The replacement of Dave with Rick Lopez in 1998 stabilized the line-up of the street punk band. It remained unchanged until 2017. In 1999, the guys collected all the material from previous years, publishing the collection Early Years 1990-1995. It included compositions from mini-albums and unreleased singles.
Since 2000, The Casualties have continued to release albums and actively tour both independently and together with other punk bands and performers.
In 2012, they organized the Tonight We Unite tour, where they co-headlined with Nekromantix. It was during this tour that the musicians managed to play their debut album “For The Punx” from the first to the last note. Previously, this could not be done. In the same year, the fans were pleased with the album "Resistance through". In 2013, they honored with their presence and participation the world's largest punk festival Rebellion in the English city of Blackpool.
Last Loss
In 2016, the musicians presented the 10th album "Chaos Sound", recorded in California, to the music lovers. After that, The Casualties left vocalist Jorge Herrera, who, in fact, was the main inspirer and creator of the musical group.
Herrera was forced to leave due to a series of sexual abuse scandals. He was replaced by David Rodriguez, who previously fronted The Krum Bums.
Jorge Herrera, after leaving The Casualties, settled with his wife and son in his beloved New York. He has always been a football fan, so he watches ball fights on cable channels. Left out of work, Jorge discovered a lot of new music. After all, before only skinhead and metal existed for him, until he got carried away with punk.
